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having regard to its previous resolutions on the deliberations of the Committee on Petitions,

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having regard to Articles 10 and 11 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU),

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having regard to Articles 20, 24 and 227 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), which reflect the importance the Treaty attaches to the right of EU citizens and residents to bring their concerns to the attention of Parliament,

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having regard to Article 228 TFEU on the role and functions of the European Ombudsman,

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having regard to Article 44 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (the ‘Charter’) concerning the right to petition the European Parliament,

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having regard to the provisions of the TFEU relating to the infringement procedure and, in particular, to Articles 258 and 260 thereof,

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having regard to Rules 54 and 227(7) of its Rules of Procedure,

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having regard to the report of the Committee on Petitions (A9-0323/2021),

A.

whereas in 2020, Parliament received 1 573 petitions, which represents an increase of 15,9 % as compared to the 1 357 petitions submitted in 2019 and an increase of 28,9 % as compared to the 1 220 petitions submitted in 2018;

B.

whereas in 2020, the number of users supporting one or more petitions on Parliament’s Petitions Web Portal was 48 882, which represents a considerable rise as compared to the 28 076 users recorded in 2019; whereas the number of clicks in support of petitions also increased in 2020, reaching a total of 55 129;

C.

whereas the large number of petitions voicing citizens’ concerns over the public health and socio-economic emergencies resulting from the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic significantly contributed to the rise in the number of petitions registered in 2020 in comparison with previous years; whereas 13,23 % of the petitions received in 2020 related to the COVID-19 pandemic;

D.

whereas the high number of petitions submitted in 2020 reveals that, in times of crisis, citizens rely on their elected representatives at EU level by directly addressing their concerns and complaints to them;

E.

whereas, however, the overall number of petitions remains modest in relation to the total population of the EU, revealing that efforts still need to be stepped up even more to increase citizens’ awareness about their right to petition and encourage them to exercise it; whereas, in exercising the right to petition, citizens expect the EU institutions to provide added value by finding a solution to their problems;

F.

whereas the criteria for the admissibility of petitions are laid down in Article 227 TFEU and Rule 226 of Parliament’s Rules of Procedure, which require that petitions must be submitted by EU citizens or residents directly affected by matters falling within the EU’s fields of activity;

G.

whereas, of the 1 573 petitions submitted in 2020, 392 were declared inadmissible and 51 were withdrawn; whereas the relatively high percentage (24,92 %) of inadmissible petitions in 2020 demonstrates that there is still a widespread lack of clarity about the scope and limits of the Union’s areas of responsibility;

H.

whereas the right to petition the European Parliament is one of the fundamental rights of EU citizens; whereas the right to petition provides EU citizens and residents with an open, democratic and transparent mechanism to address their elected representatives directly and is therefore essential to enable citizens’ active participation in the Union’s fields of activity;

I.

whereas the right to petition offers Parliament the opportunity to enhance its responsiveness to complaints and concerns relating to respect for EU fundamental rights and compliance with EU legislation in the Member States; whereas petitions are therefore a useful source of information on instances of misapplication or breaches of EU law, and thus enable Parliament and other EU institutions to assess the transposition and application of EU law and its possible impact on the rights of EU citizens and residents;

J.

whereas Parliament has long been at the forefront of the development of the petition process internationally and has the most open and transparent petition process in Europe, allowing petitioners to participate in its activities;

K.

whereas the Committee on Petitions carefully examines and deals with each petition submitted to Parliament; whereas each petitioner has the right to receive a reply informing them about the decision on admissibility and follow-up actions taken by the committee within a reasonable period of time, in their own language or in the language used in the petition; whereas any petitioner may request that their petition be reopened on the basis of any relevant developments;

L.

whereas the activities of the Committee on Petitions are based on the input provided by petitioners; whereas the information submitted by petitioners in their petitions and at committee meetings, along with the Commission’s assessment and the replies of the Member States and other bodies, are crucial for the work of the committee; whereas admissible petitions also provide valuable contributions to the work of the other parliamentary committees, given that they are forwarded by the Committee on Petitions to other committees for an opinion or for information;

M.

whereas the Committee on Petitions attaches paramount importance to the examination and public discussion of petitions at its meetings; whereas petitioners have the right to present their petitions and frequently take the floor in the discussion, thereby actively contributing to the work of the committee; whereas in 2020, the Committee on Petitions held 13 committee meetings, at which 116 petitions were discussed with 110 petitioners present, with 78 petitioners actively participating by taking the floor; whereas the lower number of petitions discussed at meetings in 2020 as compared to 2019 is explained by the reduced timeslots for committee meetings, especially from April to July, owing to the limited interpretation facilities as a consequence of Parliament’s precautionary measures in the context of the pandemic;

N.

whereas the main subjects of concern raised in petitions submitted in 2020 relate to fundamental rights (in particular the impact of COVID-19 emergency measures on the rule of law and democracy, as well on the freedom of movement, the right to work, the right to information and the right to education, as well as a large number of petitions related to LGBTQ+ rights in the Union), health (notably questions on the public health crisis resulting from the pandemic, ranging from the protection of citizens’ health, including treatments and protective equipment, to the management of the health crisis in the Member States and the acquisition and distribution of vaccines), the environment (mostly mining activities and their impact on the environment, nuclear safety, air pollution and the deterioration of natural ecosystems), justice (notably issues related to access to justice or alleged procedural irregularities or concerns over the rule of law, along with cross-border cases of child abduction and custody rights), employment (in particular job market accessibility and precarious employment), education (in particular questions related to discriminatory access to education), and the internal market (in particular questions relating to national travel restrictions in the context of the pandemic and their impact on the freedom of movement of persons within and outside the EU), and the implementation of the agreement on the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union, in addition to many other areas of activity;

O.

whereas 79,7 % (1 254) of the petitions received in 2020 were submitted via Parliament’s Petitions Web Portal, as compared to 73,9 % (1 003 petitions) in 2019, thus confirming that Parliament’s Petitions Web Portal has become by far the most used channel for submitting citizens’ petitions to Parliament;

P.

whereas in 2020, the Petitions Web Portal was further developed into a more user-friendly, secure and accessible portal for citizens; whereas the frequently asked questions (FAQs) have been updated and a number of improvements on data protection have been made in order to implement the recommendations by the European Data Protection Supervisor and a new password recovery mechanism has been introduced; whereas the interconnection between the Petitions Web Portal, ePeti and PETIGREF has been further developed and work has been carried out to ensure the integration of external developments and Hermes; whereas a large number of individual support requests have been handled successfully;

Q.

whereas, in 2020, many petitions concerning COVID-19 were placed on the agenda by means of the urgency procedure;

R.

whereas in 2020, the Committee on Petitions held just one fact-finding visit; whereas no other fact-finding visit could take place due to the situation caused by the pandemic and the decision taken by Parliament’s President to cancel parliamentary events, including delegations, as one of the necessary precautionary measures adopted to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and minimise health risks for Parliament’s Members and staff;

S.

whereas the Committee on Petitions as an associated committee, together with the committees responsible for the subject-matter (Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) and the Committee on Culture and Education (CULT)) organised a public hearing on the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) entitled ‘Minority Safepack — one million signatures for diversity in Europe’ on 15 October 2020; whereas owing to the pandemic, the hearing was held in hybrid format and the ECI’s organisers could take part at the meeting remotely, while the public could follow the meeting via webstreaming;

T.

whereas the Commission, as the guardian of the Treaties, has an essential role in the work of the Committee on Petitions and the information provided by the petitioners is useful to discover possible breaches or misapplications of the European law;

U.

whereas the Commission’s strategy in dealing with petitions is based on its 2016 Communication entitled ‘EU law: Better results through better application’ (C(2016)8600);

V.

whereas the Commission’s annual reports on monitoring the application of EU law refer to petitions in a very general way, revealing the lack of a proper system to collect information on petitions and how they link with infringement procedures or EU acts;

W.

whereas under the Rules of Procedure, the Committee on Petitions is responsible for relations with the European Ombudsman, who investigates complaints about maladministration within the institutions and bodies of the EU; whereas the current European Ombudsman, Emily O’Reilly, presented her Annual Report for 2019 to the Committee on Petitions at its meeting of 3 September 2020;

X.

whereas the Committee on Petitions is a member of the European Network of Ombudsmen, which also includes the European Ombudsman, national and regional ombudsmen and similar bodies in the Member States, the candidate countries and other European Economic Area countries, and which aims to promote the exchange of information about EU law and policy, and to share best practices;

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